1. Field of the Invention
The invention of this disclosure is a small, hand-carried item carrying case quite similar to a briefcase, which is additionally structured to also serve as a convenient portable writing desk.
2. Description of the Prior Art
With the advent of the cellular telephone and the overall competitiveness and quickened pace of business today, many businessmen have extended their offices to their cars. Invariably, these businessmen occasionally need to write down information while driving or stopped at a stop sign, which poses obvious difficulties. Although most businessmen carry attache or briefcases with them in order to carry important documents, forms, writing paper, pens and math calculators, it is quite inconvenient and distracting to open the case with one hand while driving and locate a piece of paper and a pen within the case. Then, the nearest available surface on which to write the message is the top surface of the attache case. Since the paper is not secured in position it will tend to slip about while trying to write on it, and the attache case itself may tend to slide on the surface of the car seat. Obviously, attempting to write down messages in this manner predisposes the driver to potential traffic hazards. Even as difficult as the procedure is, many businessmen will still invariably attempt to write down information while in a car, and this situation becomes even more frequent and difficult if he does business by a cellular car phone while driving.
Businessmen also occasionally need to write down information or calculate figures when they are not in a convenient place, such as walking through a warehouse, standing at a sales counter, or sitting in a chair without the benefit of a conventional writing desk. Even if he were walking and carrying a conventional attache case and it was light enough to easily hold in one arm to use as a writing surface, he would still have to hold the paper and calculator onto the surface, or hold the case horizontal so the writing materials would not fall off. Trying to hold an attache case horizontally and write on it at the same time is difficult whether standing or sitting.
Therefore, there is a need for a convenient easy to use device which allows the businessman or student or the like to quickly and conveniently jot down notes while driving, standing, or sitting in a chair without the benefit of a conventional writing desk. This device should also be light weight and easily carried. Since most businessmen and many students already carry attache cases out of necessity, it would be most convenient to provide a modified case which provided the necessary writing materials and still functioned as a conventional attache case.
The prior art, examined from a search conducted at the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, does not provide a device which solves the problems previously mentioned in a manner providing the required convenience. Although some of the prior art devices provide item carrying cases adapted to serve primarily, or in part, as a travel desk, all appear to have major structural disadvantages which would render their use inconvenient in many situations. A relevant prior art device, which exhibits typical structural deficiencies common to many prior art devices in the field, is a combination attache case and travel desk described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,483,427, issued to E. L. Gerch on Nov. 20, 1984. Gerch's device includes an attach case with a working desk top compartment which is formed into the top surface of the lid of the case. The working desk compartment includes a hinged cover which encloses a narrow compartment housing a writing paper tablet and other miscellaneous writing paraphernalia of the user's choice. The first disadvantage of Gerch's device is that to gain access to the writing materials the cover to the compartment must first be opened. This would prove inconvenient, as previously described, if the person were driving a car especially if the latch to the cover were not positioned adjacent the driver. In such a situation the driver would have to reorient the case to open the latch and position the open cover so it was not hampering the driver's access to the writing materials within the case. Other obvious drawbacks to Gerch's device include the fact the case cannot be easily held by a person and used as a writing surface with the cover attached, and Gerch does not anticipate a removable cover. Should the person be right handed, he would naturally hold the case in his left arm and attempt to write with the right hand, in which case the user's right arm would be cramped by the cover. Since Gerch's cover is not removable, and hinges limit the openable range to ninety degrees, the cover would hinder the person's writing ability. If Gerch's case were held with the cover positioned adjacent the person he would still more than likely have difficulty seeing over the edge of the cover to the paper note pad. Similar problems would be encountered with a left handed person attempting to hold Gerch's case while writing. Gerch's paper note pad is also not securely fastened in position, having only the cardboard backing of the note pad slipped under an elongated cut-out, which could allow the note pad to slip sideways. Although Gerch's travel desk has a retaining lip surrounding the writing surface to retain writing materials and implements, those un-affixed writing implements such as pens or pencils would probably not be retained by the lip if the case were held by the user attempting to utilize the writing surface since the user would undoubtedly hold the case at an angle or slope to write a message. The user could also easily forget to include a pen or a calculator into the compartment and would not readily notice this fact since the cover would generally be in the closed position when being transported. Gerch has also not provided a method of preventing slippage of his case as on the car seat of a moving vehicle.
Gerch does not anticipate the use of his device in the same situations as I have previously described, such as jotting down notes while driving or walking and carrying the case, nor would his device function adequately under those conditions. The only writing materials Gerch's case is specifically designed to retain are a paper note pad and perhaps some loose papers. Gerch does not specifically include writing implements, but suggests their possible inclusion by the user, and he also does not mention the use or storage of a calculator within his device. Although these specific materials could be included by the user in the Gerch device, they are not specifically retained within the compartment and may eventually fall out and get lost. Therefore, Gerch does not provide a device structured in a manner to allow it to adequately function under the previously mentioned circumstances.
The other prior art devices examined had similar structural and therefore operational disadvantages as the Gerch device, for example lids or covers which must be opened or removed to access paper and writing implements, and or no facilities on the exposed exterior of the carrying case to secure writing paper stationary. These other relevant prior art devices were found in U.S. Pat. No. 4,700,634, U.S. Pat. No. 3,773,154, and U.S. Pat. No. 4,515,493.